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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Backside Appreciation Part 9

Usually when I post about the reverse side of the card, it is some kind of picture that catches my attention. But as I was scanning and cropping my newest Pro Debut pickups a little while back, a statistic on the back of a card jumped out at me.

2014 Topps Pro Debut #143 Gioskar Amaya

In case you missed it, I've highlighted it below.

In 2012, Gioskar Amaya spent most of the season in low A with the Boise Hawks. I can't find a box score but I did find an article detailing how under just the right circumstances, Amaya jumped from low A to Triple A for one plate appearance. The at bat netted him a double and a perfect 1.000 batting average for the season at the Triple A level. Granted the sample size is ridiculously small but the 2.000 Slugging percentage and 3.000 OPS are comically large on the back of a baseball card. No matter what he does in his career, that stat line stays in the books.

In case you didn't click on the article, it goes on to say that unfortunately, Amaya doesn't have much of a place in the Cubs future with the backlog of middle infielders the Cubs have in their system already. Too bad because this is now probably my favorite card from an otherwise mediocre team set.

Even the front isn't pretty good, showing Amaya in what is probably a holiday game jersey. Fourth of July game maybe?

2 comments:

Amaya has played pretty well this year. You're definitely correct about the log jam of middle infielders. Last winter there was talk that Amaya may actually switch positions to catcher, but I guess that never came to fruition.

I believe the Cubs have to put him on the 40 man roster this off season or they will risk losing him to the Rule V draft. It'll be interesting to see what they do with him... maybe try to sneak him through and hope he's not drafted?

About Me

I grew up watching Cubs games on WGN in the 1980's and stayed a fan all these years. I can't promise insightful analysis or future predictions for the team in this blog but I do collect Cubs memorabilia and autographs and plan to use this venue to showcase some of my goodies.